First captured in 1995, NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope brings us a new image of the breathtaking Pillars of Creation, which are a part of the Eagle Nebula 6500-light-years away, also known as Messier 16. This updated snapshot gives us a more detailed and wider look at the nebula, "capturing the multi-coloured glow of gas clouds, wispy tendrils of dark cosmic dust, and the rust-coloured elephants' trunks of the nebula's famous pillars." The pillars are composed of cool molecular hydrogen and dust that are being eroded by photoevaporation from the ultraviolet light of relatively close and hot stars. The leftmost pillar is about 4 light years in length. The finger-like protrusions at the top of the clouds are larger than our solar system, and are made visible by the shadows of Evaporating Gaseous Globules (EGGs), which shields the gas behind them from intense UV flux. Continue reading to see the infrared version as well as a "then vs. now" comparison.
TecheBlog Staff 07 Jan, 2015
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Source: http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/pillars-of-creation-captured-by-nasa-s-hubble-reveals-never-before-seen-details
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